1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc drive such as a CD player, and more particularly to a disc clamp mechanism capable of thinning a disc drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a conventional disc clamp mechanism for a CD player is shown in FIGS. 8A to 10B. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a disc motor 3 is fixedly mounted on a main chassis (not shown), and a turntable 4 is fixedly connected to a rotary shaft of the disc motor 3. A clamper holder 2 fixed to a clamper holding chassis 1 holds a clamper 8 over the turntable 4 when a disc 7 is unclamped, as shown in FIG. 8B.
A lift mechanism for the clamper holding chassis 1 is shown in FIG. 9 and FIGS. 10A and 10B. Shafts 1a, 1a, . . . mounted upright on side walls of the clamper holding chassis 1 are inserted into cam grooves 5a, 5a, . . . of sliders 5 and 6.
The sliders 5 and 6 are driven back and forth relative to the main chassis by an unrepresented drive mechanism. As the sliders 5 and 6 move, the clamper holding chassis 1 is raised or lowered. The shafts 1a, 1a, . . . are also inserted into vertical grooves (not shown) of the main chassis.
In the disc unclamp state shown in FIG. 8B, the clamper holding chassis 1 is at a raised position. The disc 7 is transported by an unrepresented transport mechanism to a position over the turntable 4 via a space between the turntable 4 and clamper 8. Thereafter, as the clamper holding chassis l is lowered, the clamper holder 2 places the clamper 8 on the turntable 4 and becomes spaced from the clamper 8.
The clamper 8 is then attracted by a magnetic force of the turntable 4 to squeeze the disc 7 between the clamper 8 and turntable 4. This state is a clamp state of the disc 7 as shown in FIG. 8A. The clamped disc 7 is rotated by the disc motor 3, and an unrepresented optical pickup element is fed along a disc radial direction to reproduce data recorded in the disc 7.
Unclamping the disc 7 is conducted by raising the clamper holding chassis 1 from the position shown in FIG. 8A. The clamper holder 2 is made of a thin plate in order to prevent a contact with the disc 7 clamper 8 while the disc 7 is clamped.
In the conventional disc clamp mechanism described above, the clamper 8 greatly lowers toward the turntable 4 from the bottom surface of the clamper holding chassis 1 in the disc unclamp state. It is therefore difficult to provide a large space between the clamper 8 and turntable 4. From this reason, the disc 7 may contact the clamper 8 or turntable 4 while it is transported, and the disc 7 may be damaged.
If a lift stroke of the clamper holding chassis 1 is made large, a large space can be formed between the clamper 8 and turntable 4. However in this case, a height of the apparatus becomes large.
The invention has been made in view of the above problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disc clamp mechanism for a disc apparatus capable of providing a large space between a clamper and a turntable in a disc unclamp state even if the apparatus is made compact.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disc clamp mechanism for a disc apparatus wherein a disc is clamped or unclamped by moving a clamper holding chassis near to or remote from a turntable, the clamper holding chassis holding a clamper with a clamper holder, and a contact portion of the clamper holder with the clamper is deformed relative to the clamper holding chassis along a motion direction of the clamper holding chassis.
In the disc clamp mechanism for a disc apparatus, the clamper holder may be made of a plate spring.
In the disc clamp mechanism for a disc apparatus, the bottom surface of the clamper may be made flush with or higher than a plane extending from the bottom surface of the clamper holding chassis in an unclamp state.